One of the challenging things about doing your own Videos – and the one that stops most people – is the editing process. Moviemaker software comes with the PC Windows platform and iMovie comes with Macs. They’re both good programs to use, but there’s another program that I’ve been using called Camtasia, that I want to recommend you check out. It will help you edit your videos like the pros.
Camtasia is very intuitive and easy to use. Like the others, it’s drag-and-drop, building your video on a linear “timeline.” You can do the most basic cutting, or if you’re ambitious, layer together multiple tracks of picture, sound and music.
One thing Camtasia does beautifully is Screen Capture – and this is why I’m such a fan. This means you can make tutorials filming your screen, with voiceover, using websites, or film images, maps, videos, photos, or graphics, and then cut them into your video.
The program allows you to drag-and-drop effects like Fade Ins and Fade Outs, and all kinds of spins and flips (which I haven’t used – I think I’m a bit of a film snob and those seem a bit 70’s video to me). You can also place text over the picture, or add your logo to the screen corner (and control the transparency).
Camtasia isn’t free (the PC version is about $299 and the Mac version is $99 – Mac’s less because it’s still in its Beta testing phase). TechSmith is the developer, and they provide loads of video tutorials to get you through nearly everything you may encounter in the learning curve. Although I did spend several hours one night nearly tearing my hair out trying to figure out something too simple to be covered in the tutorials, I’ve gotten past that phase and now it’s a blast to work with. (Why is it so many worthwhile things seem to have a phase like that!)
Highly recommended! You, too, can edit your videos like the pros.
